Good morning, and welcome back to CFB Roundup from CFB Home – the first daily newsletter that’s all college football, all the time with no bias, no slant, and no fluff.

YESTERDAY’S RESULTS:

TODAY’S SCHEDULE:

Betting Information as of time of writing

#10 Indiana Comes Alive Too Little, Too Late; #7 Notre Dame Wins First Round of CFP 27-17

#7 Notre Dame won the first CFP game in the 12-team era by beating #10 Indiana 27-17 in a game where the final score looked closer than it actually was.

A few minutes into the 3rd quarter, ESPN’s Win Probability already had given Notre Dame more than a 95% chance to win, and it never got lower than about 98.6% in the 4th quarter.

Even with the late couple of touchdowns from Indiana with fewer than 2 minutes to go, Notre Dame finished with nearly 400 yards of offense compared to Indiana’s 278.

The big difference, though, was almost entirely because of a 98-yard rush from Jeremiyah Love to put the Irish on the board in the first quarter. Love would finish as the leading rusher, but otherwise only finished with 108 yards rushing and the one touchdown on 8 carries. RB Jadarian Price (11/32) and QB Riley Leonard (11/30/1) were the other main ball carriers last night for Notre Dame.

Leonard also was 23/32 for 201 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the passing game, with Jordan Faison (7/89) being the main receiver, as no other Notre Dame player had more than 18 receiving yards.

For Indiana, QB Kurtis Rourke finished 20/33 for 215 yards, 2 touchdowns, and an interception, although, a very large chunk of those yards and both touchdowns came in the last 2 minutes. On the ground, RBs Justice Ellison (11/37) and Ty Son Lawton (10/34) were the main ball carriers for the Hoosiers, but they both only averaged about 3.4 yards per carry. Elijah Sarratt (4/67), Myles Price (5/56/1), and Ke’Shawn Williams (5/45) were the main receivers for Indiana.

With the win, Notre Dame will now face Georgia in the Sugar Bowl on January 1st at 8:45 PM.

Florida Steamrolls Tulane 33-8 in the Gasparilla Bowl

Florida only had a 6-0 lead over Tulane at the half, but by the end, Florida had steamrolled the Green Wave to win 33-8 and outgain Tulane 529-194.

Tulane was without its previous starting QB, Darian Mensah, who is transferring to Duke. Ty Thompson started, instead, and went 11/29 for 125 yards and a passing touchdown but did throw 3 interceptions.

Mario Williams did score the lone touchdown for the Green Wave, going 6/91/1 in the receiving game to lead all Tulane players, with no other members of the team getting at least 20 yards.

Perhaps the biggest point of discourse coming out of this game, though, was 450-pound DT Desmond Watson finishing with 1 rush for 1 yard. Watson also made one tackle.

QB DJ Lagway had his first game throwing for at least 300 yards against an FBS opponent, completing 22 of 35 passes for 305 yards, a touchdown, and 2 interceptions.

RBs Jadan Baugh (14/70) and Ja’Kobi Jackson (12/57) both put in work as the main bell cow backs, with KD Daniels (5/55/1) and Anthony Rubio (6/32/1) finding the end zone. In the receiving game, Chimere Dike (6/96), Tony Livingston (4/58/1), and Aidan Mizell (4/50) were the main factors for the Gators.

Ohio’s Parker Navarro Has Massive First Half En Route to 30-27 Win in Cure Bowl

Ohio QB Parker Navarro was responsible for 4 first half touchdowns, with 3 on the ground and one through the air as Ohio won the StaffDNA Cure Bowl over Jacksonville State to get the Bobcats to its first 11-win season in program history.

Navarro finished 19/28 for 256 yards, a passing touchdown, an interception, as well as leading all Bobcats with 111 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 14 carries.

RB Anthony Tyus III also had a solid day, rushing for 102 yards on 26 carries, as well as finishing with a receiving statline of 3/35/1. Coleman Owen led all Bobcats with 141 receiving yards on 11 catches, though.

As for the leading receiver in this game, though, it was Jacksonville State’s Cam Vaughn, who finished with an impressive 10/184/1. Jarod Bowie was also productive, with a final statline of 4/103. Bowie also ran for 19 yards to be Jacksonville State’s second leading rusher.

Rushing the ball is normally Jacksonville State’s bread and butter, though, and the Gamecocks struggled a bit, only rushing for 43 yards on 35 attempts, which does include the yardage lost from 4 sacks. RB Tre Stewart was the leading rusher with 15/35/2 on the ground, while QB Tyler Huff only finished with 2 yards and a touchdown on 12 attempts (4 of which were sacks).

Huff finished 21/35 for 362 yards, a passing touchdown, and an interception in the passing game – a good game for Huff, all things considered.

Jacksonville State Expected to Name Auburn Co-DC Charles Kelly as Next Head Coach

Auburn Co-DC Charles Kelly is expected to be hired as Jacksonville State’s new Head Coach, according to Auburn Live’s Justin Hokanson.

Coach Kelly has never been a head coach at the college level before, but he spent time as RBs Coach, DBs Coach, OC, and DC at Jacksonville State during a five-year stint with the Gamecocks in the 90s.

Coach Kelly comes to Jacksonville State having been with Auburn for one season as the Co-DC and DBs Coach after having spent 2023 with Deion Sanders and Colorado in a similar role.

Coach Kelly also has Co-DC experience with Nick Saban and Alabama, while also having spent 7 years at Georgia Tech, 5 years at Florida State, and a year at Tennessee. Suffice to say, he has plenty of experience in the southeastern part of the country, and likely has plenty of recruiting ties to high school coaches in the area.

Jacksonville State has had a successful transition to the FBS under Coach Rich Rodriguez, having won 9 games every season since making the jump. Now, Coach Kelly will evidently be looking to continue moving the ball forward.

Texas QB Quinn Ewers Possibly Healthy for Texas/Clemson

Texas Coach Steve Sarkisian recently shared that QB Quinn Ewers is reportedly the healthiest he has been in awhile, which is an optimistic sign for the Longhorns.

Coach Sarkisian shared: “It’s been, I think, a difficult year for him, having the oblique injury early in the season. He was playing great before that. Coming back from that and getting back to playing the way he’s capable of playing. Getting the ankle sprain, fighting through it. … I think it means a ton to our players knowing what Quinn’s been fighting through. He’s healthier today than he’s been in probably over a month. … Quinn’s going to go out, and I think he’s going to play great football. He’s given me no pause to think otherwise by the way he’s practiced this week.”

Ewers has thrown for 2,665 yards and 25 touchdowns to only 9 interceptions on the season, but in the last two games (@ Texas A&M, vs. Georgia in SECCG), Ewers has just 2 touchdowns to 3 interceptions.

SMU v. Penn State Weather Update: Unsurprisingly Cold

One of the big storylines for today’s playoff games is Penn State getting to host a playoff game in Happy Valley, PA – one of the loudest, but coldest, environments.

And who does Penn State host, but an SMU team whose average kickoff temperature this year was 72 degrees. According to AccuWeather, it is expected to be 26 degrees with a full forecast that reads: “low clouds, breezy and colder with a few flurries; bitter cold; be sure to wear layers.”

Penn State is also planning on deploying one of its greatest advantages: a white-out.

Kirby Smart: Carson Beck’s Status for CFP In Question

Georgia Coach Kirby Smart has confirmed that QB Carson Beck is considering his options for his injured elbow, including surgery. Coach Smart has also confirmed that his status for the entirety of the College Football Playoff is in question, and it is unlikely he will play in the Sugar Bowl against #7 Notre Dame on January 1st.

This stems from the injury Beck suffered late in the first half of the SEC Championship against Texas, which has been reported to be a UCL injury. With Beck out, Gunner Stockton is presumed to be playing, with Jaden Rashada most likely behind Stockton on the depth chart. Beck currently has no timetable for return.

Bill Belichick on Building a Scouting Staff Like Saban’s at Alabama

North Carolina Head Coach Bill Belichick was on ESPN’s College GameDay last night, and spoke some on his approach to designing his scouting department.

Most notably, he spoke to how he wanted it to resemble Nick Saban’s scouting department at Alabama: “I think I learned a lot more from (Coach Saban) than he did from me. He’s a great evaluator. And then, I watched him at Alabama put together essentially his scouting and evaluation staff. Now, I’m copying a lot of things that I watched him do there and learned form the system that he installed there.”

For the scouting department staff, Coach Belichick announced almost immediately after taking the job that former NFL GM Michael Lombardi was going to be the GM of UNC Football.

Former USC, Georgia DL Bear Alexander Commits to Oregon

Former USC and Georgia transfer DL Bear Alexander has committed to Oregon.

Oregon landed Alexander’s services over Penn State and SMU, the two other teams that had hosted him on visits recently. Alexander spent 2022 with Georgia, spent 2023 and part of 2024 with USC before leaving the team after playing in 4 games to preserve his redshirt status.

Dating back to high school, this is Alexander’s 7th stop in 8 years, as he changed high schools each season. The talent is undeniable, though, which is why On3 ranks him as the Top DL currently in the portal and a top 30 transfer overall.

Talented Washington State Transfer RB Wayshawn Parker Commits to Utah

Washington State’s Wayshawn Parker has announced his commitment out of the transfer portal to Utah from Wazzu after having an impressive true freshman season for the Cougs.

Parker was a 3-star recruit just one year ago, ranked a very modest 1,255th of all 2024 prospects, but he finished his true freshman season with 735 rushing yards and 4 rushing touchdowns while also adding a receiving statline of 11/108/1 across the season.

Parker now heads to a Utah team that is experiencing a good bit of change after a tough season, but with Coach Whittingham there and with Parker transferring in, most, if not all, of the ingredients should still be there for Utah to have the potential to have a much better season in the Big 12 in 2025.

Other Commitments/Decommitments

3-Star (85) WR Kha’leal Sterling commits to Western Carolina

3-Star (84) ATH Zhaiel Smith decommits from Idaho

3-Star (83) OT JaKolby Jones commits to Georgia Tech